1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a tripod for supporting an instrument, such as a telescope, a camera, a camcorder or a measuring instrument, and more particularly, to a continuously angle-adjustable multifunction tripod.
2. The Prior Arts
A tripod is a device operated in accordance with the principle that a plane can be determined by three non-collinear points. A tripod is usually used for supporting a measuring instrument, a camcorder, an illuminating apparatus, or a laboratory appliance. A typical tripod is often provided with three legs designed to be extractable and retractable in order to adjust a supporting height, so that the instrument supported thereupon can be steadily operated at a certain height. Nowadays, tripods are more widely used, and therefore more functions and requirements are desired from tripods. For example, for observation equipment, such as an astronomical telescope, during the observation, even the least dither or vibration may cause a failed observation. Meanwhile, such observation equipment may usually be carried by a user, so as to be used in a variety of complex environments, such as a city, a village, a desert, and a mountain area. Therefore, a tripod has a structure which is simple, stable, easy to operate, may be steadily mounted in a variety of environments, and has an adjustable supporting height would be very indispensable. Unfortunately, none of the existing tripods may well satisfy the foregoing demands.
For example, Chinese Utility Model Patent Publication No. CN2724048, issued on Sep. 7, 2005, a tripod having three legs with an adjustable opening angle therebetween is disclosed. The tripod includes three legs, protection caps, leg connectors connecting every leg and the protection caps, a tripod head provided on the protection caps. Each protection cap is configured with a plurality of bayonets for defining a plurality of opening angles. The leg connectors which hinge jointed with the protection caps are configured with assembling slots. An elastic button is assembled to the assembling slots with pins and torsional springs. The button is held by the torsional springs for engaging with the bayonets of the protection caps. In such structure, the tripod is adapted for adjusting the opening angle of the legs by levels. Unfortunately, it is more difficult when using the tripod in an environment having more varied landforms and the tripod may need to be continuously fine tuned with respect to the spans of the legs.
Similarly, Chinese Invention Patent Publication No. CN1936690, issued on Mar. 28, 2007, a disclosed tripod for a camera also has similar disadvantages. This tripod provides an opening/closing mechanism disposed between a base of a leg and a body of the tripod for fast adjusting the opening angle of the legs. Although the adjustment to the spans between the legs may be realized, the adjustment is also conducted by levels, and therefore the adjustment is very restricted and may not adapt to complex environments. Further, the tripod employs many precise components, e.g., ratchets, for adjusting the opening angle of the legs, and thus the tripod is featured with a raised cost and an increased probability of failure.